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The Mind's Eye (episode)
Geordi is kidnapped and brainwashed by Romulans. Summary While on his way to Risa for a cybernetics symposium and shore leave, Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge's shuttlecraft is captured by a Romulan warbird, and he is subjected to intense mental conditioning. While an imposter is sent to Risa to impersonate him, La Forge is fed several images via his VISOR implants, and made to kill Chief Miles O'Brien in a holographic simulation. At the same time, the Enterprise escorts Klingon Ambassador Kell to the Kriosian system, where a Klingon colony is fighting for its independence. The governor of Krios, Vagh, accuses the Federation of providing aid and weapons to the Klingon rebels. Captain Picard steadfastly denies the accusation, but Vagh produces weapons seized from the rebels which appear to have come from the Federation. When La Forge returns, he has no memory of the Romulan abduction. After his return, however, Data notices that the ship's sensors are detecting sporradic E-band emissions, usually associated with Romulan communications. Data tries to pinpoint the source of the emissions, and also works with La Forge to analyze the weapons weapons seized from the Klingon rebels. They detect subtle differences between the seized weapon and any Federation weapon, and upon further inspection, determine that the weapon had been charged with a terahertz power source, used by 327 known species, but most commonly associated with the Romulans. Picard realizes that the Romulans are once again trying to to destroy the alliance between the Federation and the Klingon Empire, which placates Vagh for a short time, who takes the seized weapon for an inspection by Klingon technicians. However, Vagh contacts Picard soon afterward and tells him the Klingons have intercepted a transport of weapons intended for Krios, which came from the Enterprise. An investigation ensues, and Data and La Forge determine that an unauthorized transport was sent from cargo bay 4, but the memory chips in the computer were erased to hide the offendor's identity, and the power routed through the replicator pathways to attempt to conceal its origin. As tensions between the Klingon colony and the Enterprise continue to mount, a Klingon attack cruiser and two Klingon birds of prey uncloak and surround the Enterprise, threatening attack if the ship attempts to leave orbit. Ambassador Kell offers to beam down to Krios force Vagh to come aboard the Enterprise to witness the ongoing investigation, in an attempt to convince him of the Federation's innocence. However, before Kell leaves, La Forge visits him in his quarters, where it is revealed that Kell is conspiring with the Romulans, and that Kell has been implanting commands within La Forge's mind, including the command to transport the weapons to the Klingon rebels. Kell instructs La Forge to murder Governor Vagh when he arives from Krios and claim he acted on behalf of Starfleet, in support of the colony's independence. Kell's transmission to La Forge is detected by the Enterprise's sensors, and Data is able to trace it to Kell. Following a mounting trail of evidence, Data finds that the memory chips in La Forge's shuttlecraft have been replicated by Romulans, and that the hull has been subjected to stresses consistent with Romulan tractor beams. He orders Lt. Worf to take La Forge into custody immediately, which causes a commotion and stops the assassination of Vagh, but with only a moment to spare. Vagh accuses the Federation of a murder plot, and asks Picard to explain, at which point Data intervenes and reveals that La Forge has been under Romulan control—through a process Data defines as "brainwashing," though he acknowledges that brainwashing is a questionable term. Data also reveals that the only two people who could have been relaying commands to La Forge were Picard and Kell. Picard consents to being searched for an E-band transmitter, Kell refuses, stating that he is a representative of the Klingon High Council, and will not be searched by anyone on the Enterprise. Vagh tells Picard that he agrees with Kell, and says that the Klingons will search him. Kell requests asylum aboard the Enterprise, and Picard says that he will grant asylum only after Kell is absolved of the crime of which he is accused. The episode ends with La Forge undergoing counseling with ship's counselor Deanna Troi, where he begins to realize that his memories of his trip to Risa are false. Troi promises to work with him to restore his memory, and she begins by asking La Forge what happened after he saw the Romulan ship—a question that leaves La Forge stumped, and worried as the full horror of the violation against him begins to sink in. Background Information *The plot of this episode bears some similarities to the film The Manchurian Candidate. Conditioning a prisoner by showing him interminable scenes of graphic violence was an idea lifted from A Clockwork Orange. *We get to meet members of the Krios race in season 5 episode "The Perfect Mate". *Larry Dobkin, who plays Klingon Ambassador Kell, directed the Original Series episode "Charlie X". *At the beginning of the episode, Geordi is listening to Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony Number Six before switching to Latin music. *The Romulan and Klingon transporter effects of the 24th Century are seen for the first time in this episode. *Ambassador Kell wears the same sash that the Klingon Ambassador wore in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. *Sela is played by an extra in this episode, Denise Crosby only provided the voice. Apparently, it hadn't been decided yet that Sela would have blond hair like her mother, as she sports a regular black Romulan hairdo in this episode. *This is the second appearance of the tactical laboratory after "The Emissary", though it looks completely different here. *The map of the region surrounding Krios that Worf and Kell look at in the tactical lab was later slighty modified and re-used as a map of the Typhon Expanse. *Krios in this episode looks different from Krios as seen in "The Perfect Mate". Here, Krios is blue, in the latter episode it's green. *The matte painting used for the surface of Krios is a re-use of the painting originally created for "Angel One". The painting was extensively "Klingonified" for this appearance. *The large shuttlebay set doubles as shuttlebay 2 and cargo bay 4 in this episode. *The master systems display in main engineering is seen in several close-ups. All inside gags (the hamster wheel, the duck, Nomad, a Porsche) were removed however. Links and References Main Cast *Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard *Jonathan Frakes as William Riker *Brent Spiner as Data *LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge *Michael Dorn as Worf *Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher Guest Stars *Lawrence Dobkin as Kell *John Fleck as Taibak *Colm Meaney as Miles O'Brien *Edward Wiley as Vagh Co-Starring *Majel Barrett as Computer Voice *Tracee Lee Cocco as Jae (uncredited) *Cameron as Kellogg (uncredited) *Carl Banks as Russell (uncredited) *Denise Crosby as Sela (uncredited, voice only) *Guy Vardaman as Darien Wallace (uncredited) References actinide; aft nacelle associate; Andorians; ambassador; Arboretum; artificial intelligence; asylum; authorization code; auxiliary replicator system; beam control assembly; bird; brainwave pattern; brainwashing; blood vessel; Cardassian freighter; cargo bay; cargo transporter; chess; chocolate; colony; Costa; ''D'deridex''-class; delta-compressed wavelength spectrum; diagnostic; discharge crystal; discommendation; disruptor; DNA; Duras, son of Ja'rod; E-band; E-band transmitter; Earth; Egg, The; EM emission; emission aperture; energy cell; evasive maneuvers; Ferengi freighter; Klingon food; forced pulse; forensic team; forward saucer associative; galvanic skin response; governor; terahertz; holoprogram; humor; Ikalian asteroid belt; insomnia; isolinear chip; isolinear storage assembly; joke; Jonek; megajoule; Kanarian; Klingons; Klingon Bird-of-Prey; Klingon Empire; Klingon High Council; Klingon language; Krios; Kriosians; Kriosian system; Latin (music); life support; neural implant; O'Brien, Keiko; pattern buffer; phase transition coil; phaser rifle; phaser type-1; planetary sensor array; plasma; prefire chamber; primary plasma system; protostar; rapid nadion pulse; recreation; Red Torian; Risa; Risa Control; Romulans; Romulan disruptor; safety interlock; sector; security chief; sensor array; Spanish guitar; Shuttlepod 07; somnetic inducer; spring; Starbase 36; structural integrity; subquantum state; Symphony Number Six; taHqeq; tactical laboratory; tactical officer; Teldarian cruiser; thruster; tractor beam; Treaty of Alliance; tree; transitional relativity; transporter; VISOR; visual cortex; ''Vor'cha''-class. Other references Aldebaran; Alfa 177; Alpha Carinae; Alpha Centauri; Alpha Majoris; Altair VI; Andor; Ariannus; Arret; Babel; Benecia; Berengaria VII; Beta Aurigae; Beta Geminorum; Beta Lyrae; Beta Niobe; Beta Portolan; Camus II; Canopus III; Capella; Daran V; Delta Vega; Deneb; Ekos; Eminiar; Fabrina; First Federation; Gamma Canaris IV; Gamma Trianguli; Holberg 917G; Ingraham B; Janus VI; Kling; Kzin; Lactra VII; Makus III; Marcus XII; Marnak IV; Memory Alpha; Mudd; Omega IV; Omega Cygni; Organia; Orion; Pallas 14; Phylos; Pollux IV; Psi 2000; Pyris VII; Regulus; Remus; Rigel; Romulan Neutral Zone; Romulus; Sarpeid; Sirius; Sol; Talos; Tau Ceti; Theta III; Tholian Assembly; Vulcan; Zeon Mind's Eye, The de:Verräterische Signale nl:The Mind's Eye